Keli'inui lifts Mashpee past Nauset

MASHPEE – Given a chance at redemption, Jordan Keli'inui took full advantage.

RUSS CHARPENTIER

MASHPEE – Given a chance at redemption, Jordan Keli'inui took full advantage.

The Mashpee senior running back bounced back from an earlier, seemingly fatal mistake with a stunning, 75-yard scoring burst on fourth down with 3:31 remaining to give the 3-0 Falcons a 16-10 nonleague victory over Nauset on a warm, soggy Friday night at Falcon Stadium.

It was the first loss of the season for Nauset, now 2-1.

Early in the fourth quarter, Keli'inui appeared to break a touchdown run of 48 yards. But he lost the ball as he neared the end zone and the ball rolled through for a touchback, giving Nauset possession.

“We could have easily folded when Jordan fumbled that football,” Mashpee coach Matt Triveri said. “We had three turnovers tonight. We tried to give the game away but our kids gutted it out. Nauset has good athletes.

“They're physically very large. But our kids don't back down. We have 480 kids in this school and they don't back down from anyone. They are tough kids.”

They don't make them much tougher than Keli'inui, who after being held to 16 yards in the first half ended up 188 yards on 18 carries. He also played a monster game at linebacker, helping the outsized Mashpee defense to hold Nauset's prolific single-wing attack to 153 yards of offense.

“Not only did he bust one 75 but he pounded them in the mouth,” Triveri said. “He has to play angry all the time. The kid's a specimen. Not a knock on anyone else, but he was the best player on the field tonight, hands down. Obviously he's a big-play guy.”

Keli'inui was one of many Falcons stepping up. Senior quarterback Zak Orcutt could barely throw because of a shoulder injury and was replaced for much of the game by junior Cody Hendricks. That sorely limited Mashpee's offense, but Orcutt caught a 17-yard scoring strike from Hendricks with four seconds left in the second quarter, then threw (actually pushed) a 2-point conversion pass to Kyle Murray to give Mashpee an 8-7 lead at the half.

“It's senior leadership,” Triveri said. “The kid Orcutt really couldn't throw the football. I thought Cody did a good job but in the end seniors are seniors.”

That Mashpee touchdown came after Nauset roughing-the-passer and pass interference penalties that set Mashpee up at the 2-yard line, only to see the Falcons penalized twice, for holding and an illegal formation.

“Just before the half it shouldn't have happened,” said Nauset coach Keith Kenyon. “I just told our kids they never drove the whole field on us all night. It was big plays. Penalties led to the first touchdown on the pass interference and roughing the passer, so they get in the end zone. It was stop-and-go, we were in man coverage and we got fooled.”

Nauset's Mike Messersmith booted a 34-yard field goal in the third quarter to give Nauset a 10-8 lead. After Kili'inui's fumble, it appeared that would be it for Mashpee.Think again, though it was easy to doubt.

Nauset went three and out on its next series, but Mashpee fumbled the punt return, with the Warriors Gabe DeStefano recovering at the Mashpee 34 with 7:30 left in the game.

Mashpee's Kyle Murray picked off a third-down pass, giving Mashpee the ball at its own 23 with 5:26 left. Four plays later, on a fourth-and-3 gamble at its own 25, Keli'iuni was off to the races, busting off tackle through the ganged-up defense and into the open field.

Nauset's last two drives ended in interceptions by, who else, Keli'inui and Williams, to nail down the win for the Falcons.

Nauset started the game like it was going to run through Mashpee all night, taking the opening kickoff and marching 83 yards in 12 plays and 6:19, with Connor Martin scoring from the 1. Messersmith's extra point made it 7-0.

“I knew we weren't going to roll right through them,” Kenyon said. “They are a good football team. We had a good drive on the first one. We knew this would be a close game. It was a matter of who would make the most mistakes and it happened to be us tonight.”

Triveri said it was a matter of Mashpee making an adjustment to a Nauset adjustment. The touchdown was the first Mashpee's first-team defense has given up this season.

“Nauset changed its keys,” Triveri said. “Credit to them. They came out the first drive and completely ran away from what we were looking at. We were chasing one way, they ran the other. We changed keys midway through and settled in after that.”

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